Anticoagulation Service For Health Professionals
Dosing Chart of LMWH for Treatment of Established Thrombi or Prevention of Left-Sided Intracardiac Thrombi
Enoxaparin (Lovenox):
Dose: 1 mg/kg SQ q 12 hrs
Available in several pre-drawn syringes (see table)
Note that some syringes are graded to allow exact dosing (e.g. a 70 kg man could inject 0.7 mL from an 80 mg pre-drawn syringe to administer 70 mg of enoxaparin). For patients not capable of administering partial doses, it is acceptable to prescribe a total daily dose that is "rounded" to the nearest 10 mg interval (e.g. consider 80 mg q 12 hr for 75 kg man). Alternative regimens include slightly unbalanced doses (e.g. 80 mg q AM and 60 mg q PM for a 70 kg man) or combinations of syringes (e.g. 30 mg + 40 mg twice daily for 70 kg man). However, the latter strategy will increase complexity and double the number of injections.
Enoxaparin |
Strength |
Syringe Gradations |
| Pre-drawn syringe | 30 mg/0.3 mL | None |
| Pre-drawn syringe | 40 mg/0.4 mL | None |
| Pre-drawn syringe | 60 mg/0.6 mL | 0.025 mL |
| Pre-drawn syringe | 80 mg/0.8 mL | 0.025mL |
| Pre-drawn syringe | 100 mg/1.0 mL | 0.025mL |
Dalteparin (Fragmin):
Dose: 120 U/kg SQ q 12 hrs
Available in pre-drawn syringes and a multi-dose vial (see table).
Because dalteparin is available not only in syringes, but also in a multi-dose vial, rounding of doses is not necessary. Prescription of dalteparin for a 70 kg man could be written as "Dalteparin 8400 U SQ q 12 hours."
Dalteparin |
Strength |
Syringe Gradations |
Pre-drawn syringe |
2,500 Units/0.2 mL |
None |
Pre-drawn syringe |
5,000 Units/0.2 mL |
None |
Multi-dose vial (9.5 mL) |
10,000 Units/mL |
Not applicable |
Remember: Always prescribe syringes (1 ml or 3 mL) and SQ needles (25G5/8 or 26G5/8) if using the multi-dose dalteparin vial.
